By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with
In the new Reason2Resist podcast, Dimitri Lascaris and I discuss the operational mistakes and strategic misjudgements which President Vladimir and his spokesman are making, as they reveal in statements this week their interpretations of the new Ukrainian drone attacks, and the role the US is playing in encouraging them and guiding them on to target. Click to view or listen.
The evidence presented in the podcast can be investigated as follows.
PRESIDENT PUTIN’S MILITARY ACADEMY SPEECH, ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS, JUNE 23
Source: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80087 and http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/80089
“We can see that while in the past NATO countries limited themselves to supporting the Kiev regime, which came to power illegally, by using armed force and staging a coup d’etat, today the West is openly talking about preparing for a war against us and building up their military offensive budgets. However, to justify these expenses and the radical militarisation of their countries, the heads of NATO and EU states again use lies about Russia’s alleged military threat.
The action plan of the pseudo-democratic West is very simple: first they create threats for our country, forcing us to take action necessary for defending and protecting our country, and then they immediately accuse us of all mortal sins to justify their continued aggressive policy and their aggressive actions against Russia. We know this very well. Even after the treacherous attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 – and it was a treacherous attack, the West and Hitler’s Germany tried to accuse the Soviet Union and [Joseph] Stalin of aggression against what we currently know as the “collective West.” It is surprising that certain quasi-scientific quarters continue to seriously consider this.”
“Look at what is happening in Germany. All the political forces that advocate aggression against Russia, that push for escalation and armed conflict – their ratings are plummeting. Every party that champions that path is seeing its support steadily decline. Conversely, those who want to restore normal relations with us, to stop this endless drive for a strategic defeat of Russia, are on the rise. All those who want normal relations with us. I think it will happen; it will eventually work out.
They have not yet gone so far as to launch anything from their own territory; they understand that would invite a retaliatory strike. I think everyone realises that – or ought to – and so they are doing everything they can to keep their distance. When Ukrainian drones go astray into the Baltic states, for example, they do not point the finger at Moscow. They admit they are Ukrainian: a mistake, a system glitch, diverted by electronic warfare, something along those lines. They have not crossed that line yet, though they do host defence production facilities. And of course, weapons are still flowing into the combat zone in vast quantities…
Before World War II, the Soviet Union did everything possible to prevent the conflict. It proposed an alliance to all the European powers against the aggressive Nazi regime in Germany. But these proposals were rejected, and those same countries began signing agreements with Hitler themselves. Who signed the agreement in 1938? Those same Western countries: France and Great Britain. The British Prime Minister returned to London, stepped off the airplane waving the agreement and shouting, “I have brought you peace.” Though, to be fair, there were sensible people in Great Britain who said, “Now war is inevitable.” And that is exactly what happened.
After that, they turned against the Soviet Union, and at the same time Nazi Germany began accusing the Soviet Union of allegedly preparing an attack and planning aggression. It was nonsense. Yet these accusations continued, and unfortunately, they continue to this day.”
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV’S SPEECH AT THE PRIMAKOV FORUM, JUNE 24
Source: https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2122065/
“We welcomed the position of US President Donald Trump when he returned to the Oval Office and said that he wanted to conduct a dialogue with Russia and contribute to the search for the closure of the Ukrainian crisis. This is a completely normal position of a normal politician, in contrast to the one occupied by those who now lead European countries that have cut off all ties with us (the same was the position of the previous American president J. Biden). This is a pleasant difference from those who rejected the very idea of dialogue, which is the essence of politics and diplomacy. US Presidents D. Trump and Russia Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone, agreed that U.S. Secretary of State M. Rubio and I will see in Riyadh in February 2025 (I mentioned this meeting).
It was a good meeting. We talked about conceptual things, namely, that the actions of the new administration in the international arena, as stated by US Secretary of State M. Rubio, is a clear principle of “MAGA” (Make America Great Again). This means not the spread of ideology, but the protection of national interests, as understood in Washington. He added that they fully recognize that others also have national interests and want to cooperate. It was about the fact that where national interests coincide (it will be rare), it would be unforgivable to have missed the chance to produce something mutually beneficial in the material sphere. And where they do not coincide (which will be much more often), it will be a crime to allow this discrepancy to degrade into a conflict. We fully agree with that.
As for the Ukrainian crisis, I note that in February 2025, the Americans were still trying to follow from which side to approach, but it was obviously clear that they understood the root causes, unlike their European friends. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that there should be no NATO for Ukraine. With the arrival of the White House, he said many times that this position of the Russians is absolutely clear, no one wants to have such a military irritant on their borders… but now everything has changed significantly. On June 23 of this year. “Kievskaya Pravda” (there is such a media body in Ukraine) said that after the meeting in Evian with V.A. Zelensky, the President of the United States D. Trump told him to toughen sanctions against Russia, other forms of pressure, and escalate military operations against Russian territory, including blows in depth, as reported by an anonymous source. I don’t think it reflects reality. It is more likely to pass off what you want for reality. However, Anchorage was mentioned.
I would like to stress that before the meeting in Alaska, a special envoy of the US President S. Witkoff, came with an absolutely specific proposal. The President of Russia V.V. Putin went to work, and in Anchorage he told US President D. Trump that there were some nuances that he took on. He accepted the American offer, but it was already a compromise.
Now we are told, they say, until it does, let’s give up something else. We did not give way to anything there, but agreed on how to stop the fighting and begin to resolve all other issues at the negotiating table. We had enough confidence that this would contribute to the implementation of the very goals set by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But step by step. We thought we had agreed, but a week was passing, two…. In the meantime, I don’t want to create any tension. Talks continue from our American contacts that the leaders of Russia Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will definitely promote national interests and seek their balance. And then we will have a very rosy prospect. They say that Ukraine is not their war, but Biden’s, and that under D. Trump it would never have begun. They note that it turned out that when D. Trump again came to power in the United States, Ukraine was already at the top of the international agenda. They think she should be removed from there. We honestly thought that in Alaska it was removed at the suggestion of the United States, as they proposed, but in practice it happened differently.”
KREMLIN SPOKESMAN PESKOV WELCOMES WITKOFF AND KUSHNER
Source: https://tass.com/politics/2150895
“ ‘We are grateful to Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner for their efforts, which we consider highly constructive,’ Peskov stated. He also underscored Russia’s expectation that these contacts will persist moving forward. Furthermore, the Russian leader’s spokesman emphasized that Witkoff and Kushner are willing to listen to all sides, which is currently ‘worth a lot.’ ‘Obviously, they’re busy with other matters right now, but at some point their schedule will be less tight, and we expect contacts to continue,’ Peskov stated.”
Source: https://tass.com/politics/2150985
“Moscow is ready to ‘lend an ear’ to US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, whose visit to Russia is currently still under discussion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the Primakov Readings international scientific and expert forum. ‘Yet another visit by Witkoff and Kushner is being discussed at their initiative, as [Kremlin Aide] Yury Ushakov and [Kremlin Spokesman] Dmitry Peskov too have said. Of course, we will lend them an ear,’ Russia’s top diplomat said. ‘We are always open to talks. And we appreciate it very much – I am being serious, I’m not being sarcastic – that, despite all this, the US administration has maintained dialogue,’ Lavrov stated. ‘So, we will be ready to continue the conversation here,’” he reiterated.”
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